A native of Chicago, Donald M. Wilson studied composition with Karel Husa and Robert Palmer at Cornell University and with Gunther Schuller at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood). In 1965 Wilson became the first music director of the educational FM station in Philadelphia now known as WHYY-FM. Now a professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University, Wilson joined the BGSU music faculty in 1967, taught music theory, analysis and composition for 31 years and chaired the Music Composition/History Department for two four-year terms. From 1983 to 1995 Wilson produced over 80 one-hour programs in the annual "New Music Festival" radio series for national distribution. A member of the American Music Center since 1964 and a member of the American Composers Alliance since 1967, Wilson became a charter member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers in 1995. Recent highlights include the premiere in 2005 of "Make A Joyful Noise" by the BGSU Women's Chorus, Mark Munson director; the first performance in 2009 of "The Lord Is My Shepherd" by the choir of the Lutheran Church of the Savior in Paramus, New Jersey; and the awarding of 2nd prize in the 2009 Religious Arts Festival at the First United Methodist Church of El Centro, Calif. to Wilson’s motet on Genesis chapter 1, IN THE BEGINNING for Narrator, SATB Choir and Piano with Optional Vibraphone (2009).

We invite you to take your time browsing this website. At the top of each page is our logo: a musical theme comprised of a set of rising fifths crossing a set of falling fifths. On the left side, locations in Chicago and elsewhere that had significance in the composer's early years; in the center, excerpts

about the birth of the composer's career in Chicago from his autobiography, Looking Back; to the right, snapshots of the composer, his wife Lois and/or one or more of their five grandchildren.

<--Marshall Field clock as might be seen from Oriental Theate (courtesy Intuit.com)